fishraptor Posted February 13, 2020 Posted February 13, 2020 I recently purchase this used canoe. It is an Old Town 17' Discovery Sport in absolute MINT condition. It had only been used just a few times. The inside bottom of the boat does not look like anyone stepped into it. Not a scratch anywhere. $700 bucks. New this sold for well over twice that. This titanic has a load capacity rated at 1000 pounds. I also got a nice very long aluminum trailer to make launch time a breeze. Anyway I have never owned a canoe before but purchased it for back Adirondack lakes and pond fishing and bodies of water in which motors are not allowed. I am getting a 6hp Yami 4 stoke for it for the lakes that do allow motors. I purchased two stealth rod holders for it which I have not installed yet but probably get two more for a 2nd fisherman. I also got some really high quality oars made of fir, pretty expensive but very light. I would like to put some electonics on it but not sure which one. I have Helix 10's & 12's on both my Mako and Basscast so leaning toward a Humminbird unit, just not sure which size/model. I really don't want anything too small but would like to set it up so that it is as versatile as possible. Mega, SI... It's a big boat w/lots of room so size should not be an issue. Any suggestions on what you would you fit her with ? Also, I don't know best option for where or how to mount/use transducer. From what I see I'm guessing a transducer on some sort of rigging to lower/raise as apposed to a permanent fixture but that is just a guess so far. So looking for suggestions on unit, Transducer mount and maybe even Battery type ? (maybe lithium for lightness) ? Hoping some canoe/kayak owners can give me some advice.... Quote
Bass Junke Posted February 13, 2020 Posted February 13, 2020 This made a good transducer mount last year. Very strong , had no issues with it last year. https://www.fishfindermounts.com/product-page/xpower-15mm-magnetic-transducer-mount Quote
Smalls Posted February 14, 2020 Posted February 14, 2020 Why not just buy an extra transducer/mount/power cable for your Helix's and swap em from your boat to your canoe? Quote
txchaser Posted February 14, 2020 Posted February 14, 2020 https://www.fishfindermounts.com/ I bought one of these, with the 10Ah battery. It's so well made it is nearly over-engineered. Looks like a custom machine shop job. They get lots of little details right like two rubber mounts, one with an angle so you can fit it on your boat if it has a curved hull. Owner is responsive to questions too. 10/10, well thought out, durable, does exactly what it is supposed to do, which in my case is a self-contained portable bow-mounted side-scanning Helix 7. Quote
fishraptor Posted February 14, 2020 Author Posted February 14, 2020 18 hours ago, Bass Junke said: This made a good transducer mount last year. Very strong , had no issues with it last year. https://www.fishfindermounts.com/product-page/xpower-15mm-magnetic-transducer-mount Hey Bass Junke, thanks for the Tip. I really do like the idea of not having to drill holes, long arms and such. If this thing works as good as it did in the video it looks like it might be a solid consideration. Thanks for the great tip. This is why this forum is so great. By the way I see everyone has two names (Bass Junke / Dink) ( txchaser/short fish) .... what's up with that ? 9 hours ago, Smalls said: Why not just buy an extra transducer/mount/power cable for your Helix's and swap em from your boat to your canoe? Good suggestion.... save some serious bucks for sure .... but probably because the smallest I have is a Helix 10 and thinking that might be a little big for the canoe, but then again .... maybe not. Food for thought for sure. Thanks. Quote
DanielG Posted February 14, 2020 Posted February 14, 2020 On my boat I have a pvc pipe within a pvc pipe so that it slides up and down. I drilled holes and put a clip through it to hold it at various depths. At the bottom is a pvc T fitting. The transducer clamps to it with the supplied band clamps that are used to strap it to the bottom of an electric motor. The wire is routed up through the center of the pipe. It wouldn't stick up much as you need just a short up/down to get it to the right depth on a canoe. Quote
fishraptor Posted February 14, 2020 Author Posted February 14, 2020 10 hours ago, txchaser said: https://www.fishfindermounts.com/ I bought one of these, with the 10Ah battery. It's so well made it is nearly over-engineered. Looks like a custom machine shop job. They get lots of little details right like two rubber mounts, one with an angle so you can fit it on your boat if it has a curved hull. Owner is responsive to questions too. 10/10, well thought out, durable, does exactly what it is supposed to do, which in my case is a self-contained portable bow-mounted side-scanning Helix 7. Hi Txchaser..... thanks for the info... The magnetic mount from that company looks like it would be a great choice IF my hull is not too thick. I emailed that company and asked if he has used such mount on my canoe. If it works .... thank transducer mount looks to fit the bill. As far as the mounting the fish finder (maybe a Helix 7 or 8) I'm not sure getting the mount that incorporates the battery beneath it would be a good choice because it seems like you would be adding quite a bit of weight to one side of the boat (Helix and batters & mount).... that would concern me. So thinking of just putting a battery in the narrow bow of the boat, low in the boat, in a completely foamed in base the shape of the nose. This way no chance of tipping and such. I need weight up there anyway to keep nose down when gunning the 6 Yami 4 stroke. Then just run battery wires back to just the Helix on some sort of mount. This way I don't have to add the battery to the side of the boat. Kill two birds with one stone. Add weight to front, take weight away from side. To me, that battery box and Helix seems like it would be a lot of weight sitting on one side of the canoe. Quote
txchaser Posted February 17, 2020 Posted February 17, 2020 On 2/14/2020 at 9:20 AM, fishraptor said: To me, that battery box and Helix seems like it would be a lot of weight sitting on one side of the canoe. Makes sense. My trolling motor is opposite that spot, so it balances well. Quote
CountryboyinDC Posted February 17, 2020 Posted February 17, 2020 On 2/13/2020 at 2:11 PM, fishraptor said: This titanic has a load capacity rated at 1000 pounds. I think that might be realistic for a boat that size, but be careful about how much mind you pay those ratings. If you load that much and there's not at least 6 inches or more from the waterline to the gunwales (at the lowest point), plan on bailing and/or swimming. This is going to be a purpose-built fishing canoe, or one that you occasionally take the family down the river in too? Quote
Bass Junke Posted February 17, 2020 Posted February 17, 2020 On 2/14/2020 at 8:56 AM, fishraptor said: Hey Bass Junke, thanks for the Tip. I really do like the idea of not having to drill holes, long arms and such. If this thing works as good as it did in the video it looks like it might be a solid consideration. Thanks for the great tip. This is why this forum is so great. By the way I see everyone has two names (Bass Junke / Dink) ( txchaser/short fish) .... what's up with th Bass Junke is my screen name. Dink is how many posts you make. The more you make the bigger you get, the pluses under members is how many likes and thanks you get. The magnetic transducer mount is pretty sweet. I bought the more powerful magnet. It actually worked through my hand. It will hold through the hull of that canoe like nothing. It was nice because it was close to me, I could just reach down and swivel it up out of the way when coming into shore or in some slop. Quote
Super User Goose52 Posted February 18, 2020 Super User Posted February 18, 2020 On 2/13/2020 at 10:06 PM, Smalls said: Why not just buy an extra transducer/mount/power cable for your Helix's and swap em from your boat to your canoe? An excellent suggestion. I run a Helix 10 on my canoe - it is installed on a "dashboard" which also has a hinged transducer deployment arm. It is a self-contained unit (see photo) that only takes about 20-30 seconds to rig: grab dashboard from car, plug into the oarlock sockets on the boat, plug the power cord into the battery, done. For your boat, you could make a similar dashboard and, as suggested above, install an extra sonar bracket, power cord, a transducer deployment arm with transducer, then just swap over your Helix 10 head unit from the big boat. For a battery - the Helix 10 draws quite a bit of power. If your time on water is around 4 or 5 hours, you might be able to get by with a 10 or 12 AH battery, but if you spend all day you will want a larger battery. I have multiple options - I have a 12 AH that I sometimes bungee to the dashboard on the left side of the head unit, I have a Group U1 battery that could power the sonar, but usually I just run the sonar off the Group 24 battery for the trolling motor (but I do get RFI on the sonar when doing that). The installation of a Helix 10 on a canoe was also discussed here. Quote
Global Moderator TnRiver46 Posted February 22, 2020 Global Moderator Posted February 22, 2020 I can’t help with your question but that is one fine looking canoe Quote
Super User MN Fisher Posted February 22, 2020 Super User Posted February 22, 2020 Nice canoe, and you can do lots with it. Far as electronics, I'm at the 'bottom tier'. Minnkota Endura 30 for propulsion and a Hook 2-4 for fishfinder. I do have a group 27, 75AH Deep Cycle for power, but that runs the TM, Sonar, Tablet (where I have my GPS contour maps) and will also be running a camera this next year. Since I'm never out more than 4 hours - at least for the foreseeable future, it's more than enough. Get some ideas and go wild - I know @Goose52 has, and I took inspiration from him when I planed out mine - though I'm doing some more work this winter to 'improve' it. Last season's configuration. Quote
Ratherbefishing75 Posted March 18, 2020 Posted March 18, 2020 I’m glad to see that I’m not the only one who put there canoe on a trailer lol. I have a garmen striker 4 with a suction cup mount and it holds up really good. I run a minn Kota 55 lb thrust on a assend dc156 Quote
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